Business Information Service: This Week

MONDAY 12.7.92: Wines and spirits maker and distributor Matthew Clark is expected to return lower pre-tax profits of pounds 4.5m ( pounds 5.6m) for the year to April on lower sales.

Year-end pre-tax profit from Ellis and Everard, the chemical distribution group, is expected to fall by 27 per cent to pounds 12.7m for the year to April.

EC finance ministers are to meet in Brussels, while G10 Central Bank Governors start a regular two-day monthly meeting in Basle. Not much is expected by way of interest rate or foreign exchange rate policy actions.

France begins a two-day national holiday, with all markets closed.

The week-long Democratic Party Convention gets under way in New York, at which Governor Bill Clinton will be formally endorsed as the Democrat presidential candidate.

Final figures from Tomkins, the industrial management company, are expected to be ahead slightly at pounds 27.4m ( pounds 26.3m) in the year to April.

TUESDAY 14.7.92: Annual pre-tax profits from Eurotherm International, the electronic equipment maker, are forecast to produce a 30 per cent rise to pounds 6m, helped mainly by cost-cutting measures.

Triplex Lloyd, the engineering and building products group, is expected to show a slight decline in pre-tax profits to pounds 6.9m ( pounds 7.6m) for the year ended 31 December, despite the prevailing market conditions.

UK producer prices for June should show little change in inflation at the wholesale level, with input prices expected to be unchanged on the month but 1.1 per cent lower than a year ago. Output prices are also expected to show no change on the month, implying a 3.5 per cent increase on a year ago. Indicators for output are expected to show that industrial production fell by 0.3 per cent in May after rising 0.6 per cent in April, principally due to a fall in oil production. Manufacturing output is thought to have remained flat on the month, or 0.4 per cent below a year ago levels.

In the US, consumer price inflation is expected to show a 0.3 per cent rise for both the overall series and the less volatile index that excludes food and energy prices.

WEDNESDAY 15.7.92: Following other recent indicators of economic slowdown, the US June industrial production is expected to show a fall of 0.3 per cent.

THURSDAY 16.7.92: Air charterers, flight and tour operators Owners Abroad are expected to report deeper pre-tax losses of pounds 26.5m ( pounds 21.4m) for the six months to April.

Peel Holdings, the property investment and management group, are expected to show a turnround from a loss of pounds 8.4m to pounds 4.3m pre-tax profit for the year to March.

In Frankfurt, the Bundesbank will hold the mid-year review of its M3 money supply target against the backdrop of speculation over possible policy tightening. Steady policy is generally expected, however.

UK data includes the June unemployment figures, with a rise of 25,000 expected in the seasonally adjusted total, and average earnings for May, with another fall in the annual increase anticipated from 7 per cent last time to 6.75 per cent. Also in the UK, another large Public Sector Borrowing Requirement of pounds 3.5bn is anticipated, compared with pounds 3.1bn in May.

In the US, housing starts for June are forecast to have fallen slightly from May's figure of 1.3 million to an annual rate of 1.2 million.

FRIDAY 17.7.92: A US merchandise trade deficit of dollars 6.2bn ( pounds 3.2bn) is expected for May, up from dollars 5.5bn in April.

Company results: County NatWest Woodmac. Median economic forecasts: MMS International.